The Emory Black Student Union (EBSU) opened in 2013 in the Dobbs University Center (DUC), in the former DUC Down Under, on Emory University’s central campus. Racial tension on Emory University’s campus prompted students, faculty, and the Dean of Campus Life, Ajay Nair, to propose a safe space for Black students. Dean Ajay Nair, students, and faculty members wrote a Campus Life Compact which presented a proposal for a safe space for Black students, Campus Life efforts that would help Black students, student support and reported incidents of bias that would help promote accountability for Campus Life’s response to bias on Emory’s campus. The EBSU had its grand opening in the fall semester of 2013 and implemented programs and initiatives for the Black community at Emory.

Scope and Content Note

Records of the Emory Black Student Union include founding and governance documents used in the development and sustaining of the Emory Black Student Union (EBSU). The "Campus Life Compact" is the fundamental document written by students and the Dean of Campus Life at Emory University, Ajay Nair, proposing a safe space for Black students. "Campus Life Assessments" were preliminary documents that provided justification for a safe space for students of a historically marginalized group. Other documents, meeting agendas, and meeting minutes within this collection document the mission, vision, and operations of the EBSU.